Sponsors Pull Out Of ‘Skins’; MTV Continues To Laugh Its Way To The Bank

Written by Michael Lambarde on Jan. 23, 2011

MTV’s “Skins” has raised so many eyebrows due to its controversial nature that it is now has gone to affect the sponsorship of the show. With many objecting to the bold and controversial show, a television watchdog group, the Parents Television Council, is advising advertisers to pull out their ads out of the show. No sooner did the objection spark up when some of the major sponsors decided to pick up their ads from being associated with the wild show.

H&R Block, the tax prep company, is one of the latest hot and steamy show’s prime advertisers is the latest to pull themselves out of the show. Prior to H&R Block, it was big shots like Wrigley, Taco Bell and General Motors who had detached themselves from the show. Now other leading companies like L’Oreal, Schick Hydro, Foot Locker, Extra chewing gum and Orbit chewing gum are also been urged to take their sponsorship away from the controversial show. The objection has almost come to devise itself as a miniature movement with the Parents Television Council objecting heavily to the showing of such objectionable stuff of the prime time television, even on cable’s MTV. The group has made it clear that those associating themselves with the show proves that they want to endorse such vulgar acts.

The youth oriented show has become a much hyped about show with these recent controversies and it will certainly not be much surprising if the show earns more viewership owing to all these negative publicity (look at “Jersey Shore” and the controversy from Italian-Americans and the series high ratings it continues it earns). Both General Motors and H&R Block have declared that they will not stoop low to such cheap and vulgar things that the teen series is offering. So while advertisers continue to pull out of the show, MTV may be laughing its way all the way to the bank because the more controversy that show garners, the more potential viewers it has to gain to watch the controversy, and potentially become long-time viewers of it.

By the way, we have just put up quite a few photos from the premiere episode of Skins on Monday night, featuring the teenage stars in quite racy situations, which ignited the Parent’s Television Council to call the series “dangerous”. You can view the photos by clicking here.